<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>July by YoshiStack</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25153996">July</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/YoshiStack/pseuds/YoshiStack'>YoshiStack</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Code Lyoko</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Canonical Character Death, Code July, Code July 2020, DC comics - Freeform, Fluff, Gen, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Relationships, It's gonna be variety hour folks, Minor Injuries, Other Additional Tags to Be Added</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-20 07:47:15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,630</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25153996</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/YoshiStack/pseuds/YoshiStack</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of oneshots inspired by the prompts for Code July 2020.</p><p>Day 7: Regrets</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jeremie Belpois/Aelita Schaeffer, Sissi Delmas &amp; William Dunbar, Yumi Ishiyama/Ulrich Stern</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>33</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Day 1: Virus</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This feels a bit darker than my usual fare... ah well, may as well try new things from time to time, right?</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u">Code July Day 1: Virus</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Aelita, wait! What's the matter?"</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"I refuse to set foot on Lyoko ever again."</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"Why? What's gotten into you?"</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"My father stole my life from me. He was a totally crazy, second rate magician. Because of him, I am nothing. I'm no one."</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"All of that's behind you now. We'll recover the fragment that XANA took from you and shut down the supercomputer. Then you'll be free."</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"What if it goes wrong? What if XANA gets hold of the Keys to Lyoko in my memory…"</em>
</p>
<p>…</p>
<p>It wasn't a virus.</p>
<p>She was stumbling blearily through the woods, and it was the only thing she could think about. It kept echoing through her head until it practically pounded in her ears.</p>
<p>It wasn't a virus. She'd never had a virus. Something had been taken from her, but she'd never been infected with anything. Nothing at all.</p>
<p>It wasn't a virus. Of course it wasn't a virus, it seemed so obvious now. Hindsight screamed out at her that it wasn't, because after all, if it had been a virus, why hadn't any of the treatments they cobbled together even remotely helped? Why has they hurt more than they helped?</p>
<p>The problem they thought had been plaguing them—her friends—for months was completely and totally wrong. They'd been wasting their time.</p>
<p>The thought made her sick to her stomach. Her world started to spin and her knees buckled. She grabbed hold of the trunk door support, and the bark felt sharp and rough against her hands as she gripped it tight.</p>
<p>She let out short, heavy pants. God, her <em>friends</em>.</p>
<p>Four incredibly different people of varying backgrounds who'd come together because of her. People who had been extremely selfless and kind to her, as well as incredibly brave on her behalf. Who still chose to be all those things, even when the duration of their service unexpectedly lengthened because of the supposed 'virus'.</p>
<p>Just how much had they all gone through because of her?</p>
<p>How many excuses had Yumi had to feed to her family after coming home late for a third night in a row after a late Sector 5 excursion? How many lies?</p>
<p>How many poor grades could Ulrich attribute to him having to play defense against the constant XANA attacks, and how much had his already flimsy relationship with his father deteriorated?</p>
<p>How many specter fights had Odd gotten into because of this? He'd always laugh and give some witty joke through a split lip smile whenever she'd ask, but she knew it was for show.</p>
<p>And Jeremy…</p>
<p><em>Jeremy</em>...</p>
<p>Her stomach did another flip as she forced herself to stand. She took off again in another direction through blurred, teary vision.</p>
<p>How much had he put himself through for her?</p>
<p>How much extra stress did he put on himself because of it? How many scars did he bear from taking the brunt of a XANA attack while alone in the lab?</p>
<p>How many more sleepless nights did he push through for the sake of trying to find the elusive antivirus? He'd been bad about that before with her materialization. She'd caught him up in the early hours of the morning a number of times trying desperately to make the program work, and she's scolded him every time about getting more sleep. And now they were worse than ever; he'd even gone to the point of nearly ruining his health, all to find an antivirus for her.</p>
<p>An antivirus that never had a hope of working.</p>
<p>Because she'd never had a virus in the first place. All that work, all the pain, all those sleepless, stress filled nights of coding and missions to Sector 5. All done for her sake.</p>
<p>All for nothing.</p>
<p>All a waste of time.</p>
<p>Because it wasn't a virus.</p>
<p>She stumbled again and had to stop to catch her breath. When she looked up, she almost wanted to let out a bitter laugh, because of course she'd end up here. Of course, even after running in a completely random direction, she'd somehow end up back at the Hermitage.</p>
<p>It all circled back to here, didn't it…</p>
<p>She wiped her tears and for a moment, saw the house in it's previous, undamaged state. The vision—or rather, the memory, faded—and she was left staring at the dilapidated back of the house. Because that's what it was, right? A memory.</p>
<p>They'd all been memories; the nightmares, the hallucinations, the visions, they'd all actually been memories buried somewhere in the back of her mind, clawing and fighting to get back out. Because she was human.</p>
<p>And she'd never had a virus.</p>
<p>She turned around, intending on going somewhere, anywhere but here, when her eyes fell on the door leading to the secret passage to the sewers. And instead, she found herself walking toward it instead. She pulled open the door and ventured into the dark tunnels with a newfound purpose.</p>
<p>Because, there was a way to end this, to make sure none of the others wasted their time any longer. A very, very easy way.</p>
<p>Because even if it wasn't a virus, she and XANA were still bound all the same.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Day 2: Crossover</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u">Code July Day 2: Crossover</span>
</p>
<p>Lunch had been typical, no strange outages or electrical surges in sight, though they were missing Jeremy. He'd rushed through his meal and hurried up to his room to do more research on materializing Aelita, which left the other three newly christen Lyoko Warriors together at their table.</p>
<p>"Ok, so I was thinking…" Odd started as he paused in scarfing down his lunch.</p>
<p>"Well, that's a first," Ulrich noted with a raised brow. He hadn't known Odd long, but he was already starting to get a bad feeling when he saw that expression on his roommate's face. Yumi, sitting next to him, turned her head away in an attempt to hide her snicker.</p>
<p>"<em>I was thinking,</em>" Odd repeated again, now in a more exaggerated tone and a pointed look toward Ulrich. "This whole thing with Einstein and Aelita and the supercomputer. Aren't we kind of superheroes now?"</p>
<p>"Is that what you want to call it?" Yumi questioned with a skeptical look.</p>
<p>"Well, think about it! Ulrich can run super fast and clone himself, you've moved rocks with your mind, I can see the future," he listed them off on his fingers; what a day discovering that little quirk about himself on Lyoko had been. "Combined with the costumes and the gear, I think that makes us prime examples of a superhero team,"</p>
<p>Ulrich paused at the thought, then shrugged. "I mean, I guess, when you put it like that, yeah, kinda."</p>
<p>"Aren't superheroes supposed to have superpowers in real life? Ours are limited to inside Lyoko," Yumi pointed out. "Out here we're as normal as everyone else." The giant secret about the parallel virtual world notwithstanding, of course.</p>
<p>"Unless this is your way of telling us you've started growing purple fur and a tail," Ulrich interjected with an almost mad grin. He wasn't letting that ridiculous costume go anytime soon, that was certain.</p>
<p>Call it revenge for the mutt.</p>
<p>Odd rolled his eyes. "Ha ha. Very funny," he said, "Superpowers are superpowers, Yumi," He pointed at her with his fork before he returned to his meal, stabbing one of the few meatballs left and popping it into his mouth. "And besides, we still use them for the greater good. We protect the innocent from the danger caused by XANA. We're even nice enough to clean up the damage and trauma he causes, thanks to that nifty time travel trick Jeremy dug up."</p>
<p>She was more concerned with how and why the computer had that kind of function in the first place, but Odd didn't seem to mind much. Mentally, she filed it away with some of the other questions she wanted to ask Jeremy, such as 'why is Lyoko there' and 'what is Aelita doing there?'</p>
<p>Instead, she glanced at Ulrich, who just gave another shrug and a look on his face that said 'he's got a point'. She shook her head and rolled her eyes.</p>
<p>"Whatever floats your boat, I guess," she conceded.</p>
<p>Odd let out a cheer. "Yes!" He shouted, raising his fists in the air. Several other tables whirled around to stare at them, leading to a sheepish laugh from him and sharp looks from Ulrich and Yumi.</p>
<p>"Superheroes are also supposed to have secret identities, so quiet down!" Ulrich whispered harshly to him, leaning forward in his seat. A moment passed, and the attention on them quickly faded away as everyone returned to their own meals and conversations. Ulrich leaned back in his seat and sighed. "What was that about anyway?"</p>
<p>"If we're superheroes, that means we have a shot at making it to the big leagues, guys!" Odd let out another laugh. "Isn't that exciting?"</p>
<p>Ulrich and Yumi shared a confused look with one another. "'The big leagues'?" Yumi echoed.</p>
<p>"What does that mean?"</p>
<p>"The big leagues," Odd repeated with more emphasis, "You know? The big shot heroes that even people that don't read comic books know about? Like Superman, or Spider-Man, or someone like them? We have a shot with them now!" He grinned as he stared up at the old ceiling tiles of the cafeteria. "Just imagine guys, the five of us teaming up with the Avengers, or the Fantastic Four, or even the Justice League one day! How cool would that be?"</p>
<p>Yumi resisted the urge to groan. Of course he'd go there. Lord knew she'd heard enough about them from when Hiroki over the years. "Odd, they aren't real."</p>
<p>"Yeah," Ulrich nodded. "And besides, even if they were, it's not like they'd hear about us anyway. Like Yumi said, we only fight in Lyoko, and no one else knows about it thanks to that 'nifty time travel trick'."</p>
<p>"Oh, c'mon guys! Have a bit of an imagination! With all this virtualization and Lyoko stuff being real, anything's possible at this point," Odd insisted between bites of his food. "And I bet you they would know about us. Superheroes have ways of knowing each other. It's part of the code or something. I mean… look at Batman!"</p>
<p>"Batman?" Yumi repeated. Why was she starting to feel like Odd's echo chamber?</p>
<p>"Yeah! I mean, he knows like <em>everyone's</em> secret identity. I bet he'd figure us out in a heartbeat. There's always so much weird stuff going on in the DC Universe that he probably has a time anomaly scanner… or something," Odd stopped as a thought occurred to him. "Although, we are just starting out at this whole hero business, so maybe shooting for the League right off the bat's a little high. We'd need someone with a little less clout…"</p>
<p>"Oh yeah? Like who?" Ulrich asked in an amused tone.</p>
<p>"Hm…it'd have to be someone like..." Odd eyes suddenly lit up and he snapped his fingers. "The Teen Titans!"</p>
<p>Odds excited expression was contrasted by the confused silence from his friends.</p>
<p>"...Why them?" Ulrich finally asked.</p>
<p>"Think about all the similarities! They're the <em>Teen</em> Titans, so they gotta be close to our age, so they wouldn't harp on us about us being 'too young' or anything. They've got five people, and so do we… ok, well four I guess since Einstein stays in the lab, but he can be mission control or something. We'd be a perfect pair!"</p>
<p>Then, he stole a quick glance at Yumi and added, "Plus, we get bonus points for Yumi looking kinda like Raven."</p>
<p>"Wait, what?" She nearly choked on her water.</p>
<p>Ulrich put a hand to his chin and hummed. "Hm… you've kinda got a point there."</p>
<p>"Ulrich!"</p>
<p>"I think it's the hair," Odd noted.</p>
<p>"Yeah, you're right,"</p>
<p>"I'm literally right here, you know!"</p>
<p>"And, y'know, they can both move things with their mind, and they've got that snarky, miss-gloom-and-doom kinda personality sometimes, y'know?" Odd continued on as if he hadn't heard her, and Ulrich nodded again as if they were the most sage words he'd ever heard. "Plus-"</p>
<p>"Ok, that's it!" She slammed her hands on the table. "If that's how you two are going to be, then I'm leaving," she announced. Then, before they could respond, she picked up her tray and stormed away.</p>
<p>Maybe she'd go see what Jeremy was up to. She doubted he'd mind her company. The two of them seemed to get along pretty well, in the few conversations she'd had with him.</p>
<p>As she exited the lunchroom, she could hear Ulrich and Odd still discussing the same topic. She scoffed.</p>
<p>Ugh. Boys...</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>A bit of tonal whiplash after last chapter. I so badly wanted to make this an actual crossover with Teen Titans, but I didn't for a few reasons.</p>
<p>1: Crossovers, while I love, don't gel with everyone, so this felt like a better compromise for those people.</p>
<p>2: I didn't want to deal with tagging anything extra (Call me lazy, but I don't wanna have to stick this in any crossover tags if I can help it)</p>
<p>3: I've wanted to do an actual crossover between the two for literal years, but getting anywhere beyond a concept has been... difficult. I've had several ideas over the years, ranging from messing with the worlds and combining them so that the Titans discover the factory cause of XANA somehow, or the Lyoko Warriors somehow wind up in the Titans world through a Replika mission.</p>
<p>They're fun concepts, but hammering out the details (And getting in practice of writing TT so that they're not horribly OOC) of such a thing is something that I'm just probably never gonna realistically have the time to do.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Day 3: Protect</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u">Code July Day 3: Protect</span>
</p><p>The antiseptic felt cold and stung against his arm. Jeremy let out a hiss and tensed, instinctively trying to pull his arm back. "Hey!"</p><p>Yumi's grip tightened around his wrist. "Hey, if you'd actually just hold still for two seconds then this wouldn't be so bad for you," she admonished.</p><p>The two of them glared at one another for a moment. Jeremy gave another tug, but Yumi's grip remained firm. Not uncomfortable, but far too strong for him to hope to escape from.</p><p>"...Fine," he relented with a sigh and relaxed his arm in her hand.</p><p>She hesitated, holding the cotton ball just above his arm as she watched to see what he would do. He looked away from her and over at the holomap instead, eyes following it as it spun around beside them.</p><p>Jeremy tensed and sucked in a sharp breath when he felt her resume dabbing at his arm. He closed his eyes tight. "I don't know why you're even bothering to do this," he muttered through grit teeth. "We're gonna have to do a return trip anyway." Suddenly being attacked in the middle of the school day raised too many questions that none of them wanted to answer.</p><p>"And what if XANA's one monsters gets sick of playing with Ulrich and Odd and comes back to finish the job it did on you?" she pointed out. Jeremy rolled his eyes with a huff. "Hey, don't give me that. You and I both know XANA's not very picky about which one of us he'll go after. And besides, it's your own fault you ended up like this."</p><p>Her tone intensified as she spoke, almost to the point of sounding mad. She pressed a little too hard on his arm, making him yelp. She at least had the decency to look apologetic, though she said nothing.</p><p>Jeremy didn't say anything either, leaving them in silence in the lab, save for the hum of the computer and the sound of the scan he'd launched earlier. He badly wanted to speak, say something in his defense, but he couldn't. He bit back his words; he knew they wouldn't make much difference.</p><p>Because, ultimately, Yumi was right: it was his own fault.</p><p>The four of them had been sitting at their usual bench between classes, just talking, when he'd suddenly heard his computer beep. Aelita reported that she'd felt pulsations and was on the hunt for the tower. He'd barely had time to launch a scan to help with that before they found what XANA had planned for them this time: a giant rock monster.</p><p>Ulrich took off in another direction, urging them to get to the factory while he distracted it. It had worked, at least until they reached the park, and found another monster waiting for them. It had thrown several rocks in their direction, one which hit Yumi and winded her. While she leaned against a tree for support, the monster decided to take advantage of the opportunity and lunged forward at her.</p><p>And Jeremy just… reacted.</p><p>He'd reached forward for Yumi and yanked her out of the way just in time. In the process, however, he'd caught his arm on one of the rocks jutting out of the monster, slicing his sweater sleeve to shreds and leaving a nasty looking gash on his arm. In the panicked moments of trying to figure out what to do about that, Odd threw a stick at the monster to lure it away and promised to try and meet up with them later if he could.</p><p>Then Yumi had all but dragged him into the sewer to get to the lab to treat him with the first aid kit they'd started keeping there recently while they waited for either the scan or Aelita to find the activated tower.</p><p>"Honestly, Jeremy," Yumi suddenly said, startling him out of his thoughts. "What were you thinking, doing something like that?"</p><p>He gave a half shrug. "You needed help."</p><p>"I've been through worse; I would've been fine," she insisted. She pulled back and grabbed some of the bandages.</p><p>"And you wanna pretend you wouldn't have done the same thing for me?" Jeremy retorted back.</p><p>Yumi faltered. "W-well… ok maybe I would have," she relented, "But, it's not the same, with the rest of us. You… with you it's differe-"</p><p>Before she could finish, Jeremy scowled and looked away again, mumbling something under his breath that she couldn't quite catch.</p><p>"What was that?" she asked. He didn't respond. "Jeremy-"</p><p>"I said 'I don't need the reminder, thanks!'" he repeated, much louder.</p><p>Yumi was silent for a moment, merely blinking at him. "What are you talking about? Reminder of what?"</p><p>He huffed, and his sour expression turned more dejected. "That I'm..." he made a vague motion with his good hand that she didn't quite understand, and she wasn't sure he did either. "Different. From the rest of you,"</p><p>"Jeremy…"</p><p>"I… I know it's different with me. I'm not like you guys," he ducked his head down, averting his gaze. "I don't know how to fight like you or Ulrich, and I don't live off of adrenaline like Odd does. You guys are the ones good at fighting off XANA attacks, in and out of Lyoko. I… don't even have the guts to get in one of the scanners, let alone fight off one of his attacks like you,"</p><p>His shoulders heaved as he let out a heavy sigh. "You guys are always keeping me safe from XANA attacks, so for once I just… wanted to return the favor I guess." He grimaced at his arm. "Not that it did much good though," Just his luck that he still ended up being the one that needed help.</p><p>"Jeremy…"</p><p>Jeremy started down at the floor miserably. He hadn't been planning on admitting that. Yumi didn't seem to know what to say either. She remained quiet as she started to unravel the bandages. As she reached to grab his arm again…</p><p>Her grip was tight again.</p><p>He looked up to find her almost glaring at him. "I thought you were smarter than that! You sound ridiculous!"</p><p>"Huh?!"</p><p>"We protect you because you're our friend, plain and simple. No ones keeping scores of who owes each other or anything like that. But even if we were," She nodded towards the supercomputer monitor. "You repay it plenty well without putting yourself in danger like that,"</p><p>Jeremy stared at the computer, then back at her. Was she actually implying that was hard? "But… that stuff's easy. You guys do the actual fighting,"</p><p>"You're the one that gets us there. Maybe for you it's easy to do, but for us, trying to do anything with the supercomputer goes way over our heads," Yumi said. She winced at the memory of her recent attempts at using the computer. Thank goodness Aelita was already used to running from monsters… "Things go sour pretty fast if it's not you at the controls." She finished wrapping his arm.</p><p>He looked at the tattered edge of his pushed back sleeve and experimentally flexed his fingers. "It's not the same though. It's still… different,"</p><p>"It is," Yumi conceded with a nod. "But that's not a bad thing. We protect you, and you protect us in your own way on Lyoko, even if you aren't physically there with us. We all have our strengths. Yours just happen to be out here," she gave him a small smile as she added. "Although… I think if you really had to, you'd take the scanner to come in to save us,"</p><p>Jeremy let out a snort. Of course he'd try and save his friends if they needed it, that was absolutely no question to him… but it'd have to be a really desperate situation to get him in one of those.</p><p>Something about them just… freaked him out.</p><p>"I guess so…" he said, but looked up at her with a smile. "Thanks, Yumi,"</p><p>Before anything else could be said, there was a beep from the supercomputer. Both the completed scan and Aelita popped up on screen at the same time.</p><p>"Jeremy!" she said. "The pulsations led me into the Forest Sector." She paused at the sight of his sleeve. "Jeremy? Is everything ok?"</p><p>He blinked for a moment, unsure of what to say then felt Yumi's hand in his shoulder. "Nothing that hasn't been taken care of already," he looked up at her. "Well? Go on," she grinned. "Don't keep her waiting."</p><p>He didn't need to be told twice. He climbed into his seat as Yumi walked to the elevator. "I'm fine, Aelita, I promise," he reported as he pulled his earpiece on. "The tower looks like it's on the south side of the sector. I'm sending you Yumi for backup. Ulrich and Odd are out dealing with the attack on Earth for the moment,"</p><p>"Ok, then I'm off," she said, and her screen disappeared. Her dot took off across the mall once more.</p><p>He heard the elevator doors closing and looked back at Yumi.</p><p>She nodded at him. "Work your magic, Einstein,"</p><p>He nodded back right before the doors closed. He turned to the computer and started to bring up the transfer programs.</p><p>Yumi was right. He had a job, just like the rest of them did—a very important job. He had the job of maintaining the supercomputer and making sure the others could get to Lyoko safely.</p><p>And he wasn't about to disappoint now.</p><p>"Ready when you are, Jeremy," Yumi said.</p><p>He looked at his bandaged arm and gave a determined look at the screens. Time to return the favor.</p><p>"Right," he started typing. "Transfer, Yumi…"</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hm... this is the first one I'm not entirely certain how I feel about, but it's done and I'm not rewriting it now. If it seems weird sorry.</p><p>I've kinda always liked the idea of Jeremy not quite feeling adequate to his friends, and that's why he works so hard (Even if it has detrimental consequences to his personality later). But, even if he's not out there fighting like them, he keeps them safe in his own way.</p><p>I mean, we've seen what happens when things go wrong with the supercomputer after all.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Day 4: Fireworks</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u">Code July Day 4: Fireworks</span>
</p>
<p>She was used to late night runs to the factory. Whether because of a XANA attack or for a Sector 5 mission, she was used to them by now. So she didn't blink an eye at Jeremy's request for everyone to meet up there that night.</p>
<p>Said meeting taking place on the roof of the factory, however, that was a new one.</p>
<p>"Will someone please explain to me what we're doing up here?" she asked, looking around. She couldn't find anything special around, aside from the bag that Odd had brought and put down near where they were all sitting.</p>
<p>"Ah, and ruin the surprise? No can do, Princess!" Odd said, waggling his finger. At her stare, he put his finger to his lip and shrugged with a grin.</p>
<p>She let out a confused noise and looked back at Ulrich and Yumi for answers. They both just shook their heads at her. She folded her arms across her chest and tilted her head at them.</p>
<p>"You'll just have to wait and see," Yumi said cryptically. Both she and Ulrich sat down next to each other with amused looks on their faces.</p>
<p>"See what?" she tried, but the three just smirked at one another while trying to hide their snickers. She didn't think they were laughing at her—she'd like to think they wouldn't do that, and that she'd spent enough time on Earth to learn the difference by now—but she couldn't tell what was supposed to be so funny.</p>
<p>She tried instead looking to Jeremy for guidance. He gave her a wide smile full of barely contained excitement she hadn't seen from him at least since her materialization. It surprised her enough that the feeling of his hand on her shoulder startled her.</p>
<p>"I know this probably seems weird, but I promise it'll be worth it," he said. That didn't really answer any of her questions either, but…</p>
<p>These were her friends after all. They were the ones helping her navigate through, well, everything since being materialized. They hadn't let her astray yet, and she couldn't imagine them intentionally putting her in danger now.</p>
<p>She trusted them; she trusted Jeremy.</p>
<p>Slowly, she nodded. "...Ok," she relented. She'd wait for… whatever it was.</p>
<p>"How long till it starts?" Ulrich asked.</p>
<p>Jeremy looked at his watch. "About 20 minutes, so we've got some time to kill," he said. He moved to take a seat next to her, still seemingly unable to fully wipe the excitement off of his face.</p>
<p>Perplexed as she was to why, it was refreshing to see with how much pressure he'd been under lately.</p>
<p>"I know just what to do!" Odd suddenly announced. He pulled the bag he'd brought closer to him and unzipped it to reveal a stash of snacks inside. "Eat!" he said, then dumped a bunch of them in front of him.</p>
<p>"Of course you brought food," Yumi let out a small laugh and rolled her eyes.</p>
<p>"Hey, it's hard work getting up here, and a guy's gotta eat," he picked up one of the chip bags and opened it up. "Besides, I don't know how long we're gonna be out here, so better safe than sorry,"</p>
<p>"Can't argue with that," Ulrich shrugged, then reached for some crackers. "What'd you end up telling your parents to get out here?" he asked, turning to Yumi.</p>
<p>"The truth… sort of," she replied. "I told them I was going to watch with friends, I just… might have fibbed about where." The look on her face told Aelita that even telling a half truth didn't sit well with her.</p>
<p>The guilt she usually felt whenever Yumi talked about her issues with her parents returned. She just hoped this wasn't another lie told on her behalf.</p>
<p>Odd however, had a different view on it.</p>
<p>"Well, they just don't know what they're missing! I mean, we've got the best seats in the house up here!" He gave a dramatic wave toward the sky. Yumi smiled a bit at that.</p>
<p>She however, was just lost. View to what?</p>
<p>The conversations continued for some time, making small talk while eating snacks, talking about school work and strange, non-XANA related occurrences throughout the day. It was nice to just relax and not worry about it for once (though of course Jeremy's laptop bag remained close just in case). Eventually, however, the conversation turned back to a point that made her tilt her head.</p>
<p>"What'd you end up doing about Kiwi?" Jeremy suddenly asked. "I can't imagine he'd be quiet during something like this,"</p>
<p>"Oh, that wasn't too hard. Kiwi's got these pills for when his allergies are bad that make him pretty sleepy, so I gave him a few of those," Odd replied as he tore into another chip bag. "He's in his drawer right now. He should be fine till we get back,"</p>
<p>Ulrich grinned a madman's grin. "You should've seen him though. Watching him try to hold Kiwi down to force the medicine down was hilarious," he added, letting out a snort.</p>
<p>"You could've helped," Odd huffed, though the effect was lessened by the ridiculous amount of chips he'd just stuffed into his mouth.</p>
<p>"Oh I could've, but then I wouldn't have the amazing memory of you slamming into the dresser while trying to dive bomb a 20 pound dog," Ulrich replied, causing him, Yumi, and Jeremy to burst into laughter. "And that would've been robbery,"</p>
<p>Odd grumbled under his breath and rubbed at a spot on his forehead.</p>
<p>"I don't get it," she admitted once everyone had quieted down again. "Why would you need to do something to make Kiwi qui-"</p>
<p>Suddenly a loud boom sounded above them. She cut herself off with a terrified squeak and shrank back. Another sounded out, and the sky lit up all around them. Her heart started to beat faster. She ducked her head down and covered her ears, squeezing her eyes shut tight.</p>
<p>What was this? Was it a XANA attack? It had to be! It reminded her of the laser fire she was so used to having to dodge on Lyoko. XANA must've activated a tower while they'd been talking. She needed to get down to the lab then! She needed to-</p>
<p>Jeremy gently pulled one of the hands covering her ears away. When she looked up at him, she saw no panic in his eyes, no fear. Out of the corner of her eye, he saw his bag still sitting nearby, untouched.</p>
<p>"Hey, it's ok," he assured her, leaning close to her so she could hear him over the noise. "They're called fireworks. They're kind of loud, and Ulrich brought some extra ear plugs if you want them," he pointed at Ulrich, who held up the plastic case for her to see, "but they're meant for you to watch."</p>
<p>So, it wasn't a XANA attack then? She'd been so sure… but then again none of the others seemed put off by it. Earth really was strange sometimes.</p>
<p>Jeremy motioned for her to look up at the sky with an encouraging smile. Cautiously, she lowered her other hand from her face to look up and…</p>
<p>"Wow…" she breathed out.</p>
<p>It was amazing. Bright explosions—ones that weren't nearly as scary as she'd initially thought—in vibrant colors lit up the sky around them. Each went off in a different way, some at different speeds, some with different designs; no two were quite the same. She was utterly mesmerized by the patterns.</p>
<p>"See? They're not so bad," Jeremy said. She nodded vaguely.</p>
<p>After about a minute of looking up, she leaned back against him, making him tense up. He let out a strangled noise, and he heard the others snicker at him. He shot a glare at them, but just as he was about to scoot away, he caught a glimpse of the pure, almost childlike wonder on her face, and found that he just couldn't.</p>
<p>Instead, he relaxed, and looked on to the sky with her.</p>
<p>Behind them, Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi shared grins. Jeremy had been right: getting up here had been a pain, but seeing it now, it had definitely been worth it.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This is one of the prompts that as soon as I saw it, I wished I knew how to draw, because I immediately had the image of the five of them on the factory roof watching fireworks together.</p>
<p>Sadly, I don't know how/don't have the time or patience to learn to how to draw right now, so writing will have to do. Again, not sure how I feel about the finished product, but this time I think it's just one of those cases of what you have in your head never quite living up to the what you end up making.</p>
<p>Still, I got some of the gang just getting to hang out and be kids, along with some Jerlita fluff, so I can't be too mad at myself!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u">Code July Day 5: Redesign</span>
</p>
<p>XANA was getting stronger. That was always the case anymore, but things had grown even worse recently. With William under his control, and XANA's power seemingly spread out across the network, the fight had escalated to a new height , and that height required new strategies.</p>
<p>One of which was new combat gear.</p>
<p>At least, that was how Jeremy described the idea to his friends one day after meeting up with Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi in the former two's room one afternoon.</p>
<p>Yumi eyed him and the notepad he carried skeptically. "Are you sure about this, Jeremy? You and Aelita aren't even done putting Lyoko back together, and you want to add this much more to your plate?"</p>
<p>"Seriously, you two look like you haven't slept in weeks," Ulrich agreed.</p>
<p>Jeremy, tired looking as he was, waved it off. "We're almost done with that. We just have a few more tests to run on it before we can restore the surface sectors, which Aelita's working on right now," he assured them. "Besides, this is nothing compared to that. This is just a matter of altering your guys digital avatars. All that takes is just looking at the virtual structures of each of your mainframes and reco-"</p>
<p>"Ok, ok, let's not get into that," Odd interrupted with a sharp clap of his hands, much to Jeremy's ire. "So long as you know what you're doing with that, we trust you." The others gave quick nods; Jeremy rolled his eyes. "But then, what do you need from us?"</p>
<p>Jeremy sighed. "Ideas," he admitted. He started tapping the back of the pen against the paper as he leaned back in the chair at Ulrich's desk, making the button click. "I've got some basics in mind, but you guys are the ones actually using your weapons out in the field. You know what works and what could be improved way better than I do, and with how much XANA's suped William up, getting this right is more important than ever. So, within reason," he sent a sharp look toward Odd, who flashed an innocent looking grin in return. "I'm willing to take some suggestions. I can't promise I can make them all happen, but I can at least give it a shot,"</p>
<p>There was no immediate response. Jeremy's pen tapped impatiently against the table. "Well? Speak now or forever hold your peace."</p>
<p>The suggestions started to flow in after that.</p>
<p>"Look, I don't know, some kind of upgrade to my saber?"</p>
<p>"It'd be nice to be able to get my fans out quicker."</p>
<p>"Or even like, I dunno, two swords maybe?"</p>
<p>"If there's some way to make using telekinesis easier I'd appreciate it,"</p>
<p>Jeremy nodded and let out a hum as he wrote down some of the suggestions as they continued. Not all were feasible, and some he'd already thought of, but they were good to hear regardless. But someone had been strangely quiet.</p>
<p>He looked up toward Odd and immediately felt a sense of regret for ever having this idea.</p>
<p>He had <em>that</em> look on his face again.</p>
<p>Ulrich and Yumi seemed to notice too and shared a look with each other. "Emphasis on the 'within reason' part, Odd," she warned him.</p>
<p>"Hey! I haven't even said anything!" Odd pouted. "You never wanna hear my ideas, and I've got some great ones in mind for this! How about some yellow stripe-"</p>
<p>"Odd, this isn't the time for detailed fashion requests," Jeremy interrupted. He pulled off his glasses and rubbed at his eyes. He could feel a headache coming on. Different topic, now. "I could try giving you teleportation again?"</p>
<p>Odd made a face similar to that of a child eating overly sour candy. "What? No way! There's only enough room in the world for one Odd Della Robbia, virtual or otherwise. I'll leave that ability to Ulrich."</p>
<p>"...That wasn't what I-"</p>
<p>"I've got something better in mind anyway! Alright, picture this," Odd's voice got quieter as he leaned forward from his spot on his bed. "Imagine me, going across Lyoko, taking out monsters left and right—more than I usually do anyway—while I glide across the sky with some wings! It's awesome, right?" He let out a laugh, then looked at his friends. "...Why are you looking at me like that?"</p>
<p>"Odd…" Yumi sighed. Where to even begin?</p>
<p>"Cats don't have wings," Ulrich said bluntly.</p>
<p>"Right, because realism matters so much in a virtual world where we fight against giant fish and insects that fire lasers at us on the regular," Odd fired back. Ulrich rolled his eyes. "Come on, guys, think about how much more maneuverable I'd be! I have to keep up with you guys and your fancy powers somehow,"</p>
<p>"With the way you already climb around on everything, plus the stunts you pull with the Overboard, I think you've got that covered already," Yumi pointed out.</p>
<p>"Oh, but think of all the new possibilities that open up without having to rely on a vehicle! I could launch a full on aerial assault whenever XANA attacks!"</p>
<p>"Yeah, and with your luck, you'd get shot down and hurdle towards the Digital Sea in three seconds flat," Ulrich laughed while Odd let out another huff. He leaned back against the wall, hands behind his head, and noticed Jeremy still writing on his notepad. "Einstein, please tell me you aren't taking him seriously,"</p>
<p>"Huh?" Jeremy's head shot up, glasses going slightly askew. "What? No, of course not," he answered, much to Odd's irritation.</p>
<p>"None of you appreciate my ideas for what they are: genius!" Odd said.</p>
<p>"Yeah, whatever helps you sleep at night, good buddy," Ulrich said. Beside him, Yumi put a hand over her mouth to stop herself from snickering too loudly.</p>
<p>Odd let out an indignant noise and started to raise his voice as the two roommates got into yet another one of their many ridiculous arguments. But Jeremy didn't care to listen. He had more important things to work on. And he had quite a few new things to think about for this latest project.</p>
<p>Because, while yes, Odd's idea was completely and totally ridiculous, it wasn't completely terrible...</p>
<p>Just so long as it wasn't applied to him.</p>
<p>He smirked to himself as he looked at the notes he'd written under Aelita's name. She'd told him not to worry too much about her, that her Energy Fields had been enough of an upgrade for her already.</p>
<p>But surely she wouldn't mind a little something extra.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Honestly, I'd been planning on skipping this one, but then I watched the episode where the new Lyoko outfits got introduced with a friend recently and well...</p>
<p>Even if I don't like the season 4 outfits very much, the moments where Aelita discovers the wings was cute. God damn if I'm not a sucker for the Jerlita moments in this show.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u">Code July Day 6: Favorite Rare Pair</span>
</p>
<p>Music was blaring all around her. The lights were dimmed, replaced by a sea of multicolored lights throughout the gym. People moved, talked, and laughed all around her. It all made it hard to concentrate on anything.</p>
<p>But not hard enough.</p>
<p>Because in spite of all that was going on, she could still focus on one particular thing very well.</p>
<p>She watched as Ulrich smiled and moved around, dancing to the music that was playing. He looked happier than she'd seen him in a long while…</p>
<p>And of course it was with <em>her</em>.</p>
<p>Yumi this, Yumi that.</p>
<p>Yumi here, Yumi there.</p>
<p>It was always about her, wasn't it? No matter what she said, no matter what she did, no matter how nice or nasty the gesture, it always went back to Yumi somehow.</p>
<p>She didn't get it. She was the one that had known Ulrich since they were kids. She was the one who'd been there for him whenever his father yelled at him; he'd been the one there for her when her mother left.</p>
<p>She had the history with him. What did Yumi have that she didn't?</p>
<p>...Aside from a chance with the boy she really liked.</p>
<p>When the pair started doubling over from laughter at something, she couldn't take it anymore.</p>
<p>She'd needed some air.</p>
<p>Much to Herb's objections, she pushed her way past him while he blathered on about whatever nerdy thing he thought she'd be interested in hearing about and made her way to the door. She pushed past a number of people, who were sure to make their anger about it, apparent, but she didn't care.</p>
<p>She just wanted to be alone.</p>
<p>Finally, once the door was slammed shut behind her, she could hear herself think again. It was so much less stifling outside.</p>
<p>...And yet still all she could think about was the two of them.</p>
<p>She felt herself start to tear up. Immediately she started to chastise herself. She was NOT about to be that girl. The one that cried because things didn't go her way at the dance, or whatever other school event. She refused to be that girl, refused dang it!</p>
<p>...But it was just so unfair! How could she focus on anything but them?</p>
<p>She heard the door squeak open behind her, and her self pity quickly turned to anger. She knew those two were complete dorks, but couldn't they tell when to give up!?</p>
<p>"Herb, if you're about to try and cheer me up with another useless fact about mushrooms I swear I'm gonna-" she stopped when she turned around.</p>
<p>It wasn't Herb. It wasn't even Nicholas.</p>
<p>It was William Dunbar.</p>
<p>He blinked in surprise at her. "I uh… think you've got the wrong number,"</p>
<p>"...Guess so," she conceded. She turned back around and sat on the stairs, letting out a sigh. She let out a quiet sniffle and wiped at her eyes to try and get the stubborn tears to just go away already. A moment later, William plopped himself down right next to her. "Did I say you could sit there?"</p>
<p>He gave a mock hum of thought. "Hm, no. But I wasn't asking," he said with that arrogant look he always had on his face. She rolled her eyes. "Anyway, what're you doing out here?"</p>
<p>"I could ask you the same thing,"</p>
<p>"It's a nice night, and a lot quieter out here than in there. Thought it deserved to be appreciated," he shrugged. "And you?"</p>
<p>A part of her wanted to bite back with a "What's it to you?" or even a "None of your business, busted!" Any other night and she might've just done that.</p>
<p>But right that moment she was just so tired of it all...</p>
<p>She glanced back at the door. "Yeah… I guess you could say that for me too," she sighed and looked down at the ground. "Anywhere's better than in there…"</p>
<p>"Hm… yeah," he nodded. He looked down, and his voice got quieter as he muttered, "Can't argue with that,"</p>
<p>She let out a confused sound. "What are you talking ab- oh…" Right… he liked Yumi. He had that stupid rivavlry type thing with Ulrich.</p>
<p>Not that the two really compared if you asked her, but she gave him credit for trying at least. Still, he must've seen the same thing she had all night. And given how much he tried getting together with her...</p>
<p>"Guess we're in the same boat then, huh?" she asked.</p>
<p>"Seems like it,"</p>
<p>The same hole littered, water filled, quickly sinking boat that should've been abandoned long ago.</p>
<p>The exact same one.</p>
<p>"I just don't get what he sees in her…" she lamented after a moment of silence passed between them. "She's just so… so…" she made a vague wave with her hand. "Y'know?"</p>
<p>William stared at her, then let out a long laugh. "I think you and I would fill in the blank there in very different ways," he pointed out.</p>
<p>She let out a huff. Here she was, practically trying to spill her guts out to him, and all he could do was laugh? "Well, I'm glad you're having a good time with my misery," she muttered sarcastically.</p>
<p>Slowly, his laughter died down. "If it makes you feel any better, I don't know what she sees in him either,"</p>
<p>"Strangely, no, it doesn't make me feel any better. I could list a million reasons why he's great,"</p>
<p>"And I'm sure I could list just as many for why Yumi's amazing," he countered back.</p>
<p>She had nothing to say to that. She didn't doubt he was right; she didn't want to hear it though.</p>
<p>She didn't need to hear more reasons on why Yumi was perfect.</p>
<p>She let out a shiver as a gust of wind blew past them. Behind them in the gym, the song changed, though she could only tell by a small difference in the beat. It was hard to tell this far away from it.</p>
<p>"...Do you ever think about quitting?" she suddenly asked. "Going after Yumi, I mean. Do you ever think about giving up?" Her voice was quiet, and it wobbled far more than she cared for it to.</p>
<p>If William noticed, then he at least pretended not to. "Mmm, no. Not really. Why?" He looked straight into her eyes. "Are you thinking of giving up on Ulrich?"</p>
<p>She looked away again. How was she supposed to answer that? How was she supposed to put all the feeling about that into words?</p>
<p>How was she supposed to properly convey just how differently Ulrich looked at Yumi as opposed to her? The sparkle in his eye whenever he so much as looked in her direction, or the friendly, easily relaxed smile? That even when they were on friendlier terms, he never looked at her the same way he did Yumi.</p>
<p>That deep down, she knew she probably didn't have a shot with him.</p>
<p>She didn't want to say it; she couldn't say it. She settled on kicking some pebbles off the stairs and watching as they rolled to the ground. She figured her silence would be answer enough for him.</p>
<p>William leaned back and stared up toward the sky. "Well, if you ask me, it's not over till it's over. If every person that's ever been on the losing side of things quit just because things looked down for them, the world would be a lot more boring. There'd never be any kind of revolution kr upsets in the world if that was how it worked. Sometimes you just gotta root for the underdog, y'know?"</p>
<p>"That sounds like something someone in denial would say,,"</p>
<p>She'd said it in a kind of snarky voice, but he just laughed. "Maybe. That's a definite possibility. But that's just the kind of person I am, I guess: I can't do things only halfway. After all, any fight worth fighting should be fought to the bitter end," He placed his hand over his heart and looked up, determined. "As long as they're still dancing around discussing things, I've still got a shot with her. She could still come around."</p>
<p>She made a face. Something about that just didn't sound right. She might not have been Yumi's biggest fan but…</p>
<p>"You know, talk like that is gonna wind up getting you slapped in the face some day," she warned. She knew she certainly would've slapped anyone who talked about her like that.</p>
<p>...Counting Herb, maybe she already had.</p>
<p>He grinned. "Ah, you say that with the assumption that I haven't been already. I was kicked out of my last school for pasting love letters everywhere, I'll have you know."</p>
<p>"Charming," she rolled her eyes again. Ugh, his casanova act was almost as bad as Odd's and at least three times as exhausting. At least she never had to deal with Odd making a move on her. How did anyone fall for this schtick?</p>
<p>But still… it was nice having someone to talk to about… well, everything. She and him didn't really talk often, but she usually felt refreshed in the few times they did afterwards. It was just nice to know that someone understood, that someone was going through the same struggle.</p>
<p>That someone else just… got it.</p>
<p>"Well," William suddenly stood up and stretched his arms over his head. "That's enough of a break then,"</p>
<p>"Huh?"</p>
<p>He grinned. "All this talk just has me fired up again. The night's not over yet, may as well look for opportunities while I've still got 'em!" He looked back at her just as he placed a hand on the door. "You coming too, or…?"</p>
<p>She hummed. Somehow, going back in to be regaled by more stupid facts about facts about tree bark didn't sound like her idea of a good time. Even if she tried to avoid them, she was certain they'd find her; those two stuck to her worse than an entire bottle of super glue.</p>
<p>"Pass," she said, then looked up at the sky. There were no stars in the sky, Kadic was too far into the city for that, but it was a clear night.</p>
<p>She heard the door close behind her, telling her that he must have already left. She stood up and walked down the rest of the stairs.</p>
<p>She might not have agreed with William on a number of things, but he'd at least bee bright about one thing: it was a pretty nice night.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I was gonna skip this day as well, cause with only a few exceptions I'm not really into shipping, but then I remembered the moment these two had in Marabounta and I was like "I wanted more of that... let me try". Take their relationship however you want, platonic, beginning of something romantic, doesn't really matter to me. I haven't written much for Sissi or William, so hopefully I did alright with them.</p>
<p>...I'm just impressed that I wrote this in like, a day and a half. I mean, maybe it shows in the quality, but holy crap I wrote this fast.</p>
<p>But this is probably the last chapter of this for a bit. I've got some other projects I'd like done in the meantime. Fear not: just because the month of July is ending doesn't mean this fic will be dead. It'll just be on the backburner for a bit</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u">Code July Day 7: Regrets</span>
</p>
<p>Monster screeches echoed all around. A barrage of lasers pelted against him from every angle. His energy was rapidly dropping. There wasn't much time.</p>
<p>He was dying.</p>
<p>And yet, all he could focus on instead was…</p>
<p>
  <em>"Daddy, no!"</em>
</p>
<p>Oh Aelita… Dear, sweet, Aelita...</p>
<p>How much had his own ignorant actions from his youth put her through?</p>
<p>
  <em>"What is he trying to do…?"</em>
</p>
<p>He thought he'd been doing good by working with Project Carthage. He thought it was a fascinating thing, revolutionary, even. That it had so many potentially world changing applications.</p>
<p>Including that, he later learned, of it's true, sinister purposes.</p>
<p>
  <em>"The power…! Aelita, try running the program right now!"</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"What!? But… my father-!"</em>
</p>
<p>His own morality and sense of justice couldn't justify his continued work on the project. Nor could he stand the idea of it continuing at all. It was too dangerous for the fickle hands of man.</p>
<p>His betrayal… had not gone over well. No one else saw it the same way as he had, and they were more than willing to get blood on their hands for the sake of their secret.</p>
<p>...All of them except for her.</p>
<p>
  <em>"Your father is supplying the energy that we need! Try running the program again, now!"</em>
</p>
<p>Anthea helped him escape, and then went into hiding with him. And through their constant travels, their life on the run, they fell in love.</p>
<p>They found a place. It was quiet and secluded. It was perfect for them. They could let their guard down for once.</p>
<p>Soon, their little family grew. They happily welcomed Aelita into their lives, and for a time, things seemed normal. They raised their new daughter as best they could; they taught her the skills they knew, provided what little they could, always made sure she knew she was loved.</p>
<p>Things were finally safe…</p>
<p>Until they weren't.</p>
<p>
  <em>"No… No!"</em>
</p>
<p>They found them. They took Anthea away from him, and it was only pure luck that they didn't take Aelita away too.</p>
<p>Like a wolf, his past had come back to bite him once again. He'd been a fool to think it wouldn't.</p>
<p>He escaped with Aelita, continued to care for her as best as he could, but it was never the same. Her mother was missing, and constantly moving around meant she would never have a normal childhood like he'd wanted for her. Even after moving to the Hermitage it wasn't the same.</p>
<p>
  <em>"Aelita, if you don't launch the program right now then your father will have sacrificed himself for nothing! Do it!"</em>
</p>
<p>Lyoko and XANA had been a desperate man's attempt at safety. He wanted Aelita to stay safe, no matter what…</p>
<p>And look how well that turned out for him.</p>
<p>
  <em>"DO IT!"</em>
</p>
<p>He'd done so much wrong in his life, and the consequences of those mistakes had impacted her so much. He'd done so much wrong to her…</p>
<p>But, she was so strong!</p>
<p>She'd come so far since the supercomputer was first reactivated. She'd developed in ways he never thought possible, and overcome so many different battles with her friends (Ah. Another group of people dealing with the consequences of his actions. They would never truly know the depths of his gratitude for the sacrifices they'd made for his daughter—a complete stranger to them)</p>
<p>She was given a second chance at life thanks to them. He was sure she'd use it well.</p>
<p>He watched as she pulled herself up and back over to the terminal, the grief already weighing on her face. She accessed the screen again, hands moving quickly as she prepared the program once again.</p>
<p>For a split second, she hesitated, and, whether she realized it or not, their eyes locked.</p>
<p>There was so much he wished to say to her, so much he wished he could do. But none of them could happen.</p>
<p>He'd settle on the one thing he could think of right now.</p>
<p>As he felt another laser hit him, his world started to darken. And he only hoped she knew even a fraction of how much he loved her, and just how sorry he was for all that he'd caused.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Been a bit, but I said this would go on after July ended, didn't I?</p>
<p>Poor Aelita just can't get a break in these prompts though, can she?</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So, a few notes about this work:</p><p>1: This is where I'll be putting my entries for CodeJuly 2020. Yes, I'm finally participating this year for more than one day, which leads me to my next point...</p><p>2: Yes, I will be doing more than one of the prompts this time. Yay! However, I'm not doing all of them. I will be doing most of them though (probably, this is subject to change if I'm not feeling it)</p><p>3: There is absolutely no way I'm getting all this done in July. This is already a week late due to me working on other projects, and I'm not gonna subject myself to a time crunch for something that's ultimately supposed to be fun. If it takes till next year to finish this, it takes me till next year.</p><p>Look at it as more CL content for longer.</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>